Francis Chalmers Crawford FRSE (1851–1908) was a Scottish stockbroker of fame as an amateur botanist and ornithologist. ''

Saxifraga ''Saxifraga'' is the largest genus in the family Saxifragaceae, containing about 465 species of holarctic perennial plants, known as saxifrages or rockfoils. The Latin word ''saxifraga'' means literally "stone-breaker", from Latin ' ("rock" or " ...

crawfordii'' is named after him. He served as President of the Scottish Microscopical Society. He was an avid collector of plant species, especially Bryophytes and

Spermatophytes A spermatophyte (; ), also known as phanerogam (taxon Phanerogamae) or phaenogam (taxon Phaenogamae), is any plant that produces seeds, hence the alternative name seed plant. Spermatophytes are a subset of the embryophytes or land plants. They inc ...

, notably in Perthshire and Orkney but representing almost all areas of the United Kingdom. He often worked in partnership with Harold Stuart Thompson. He also collected in Hungary, Switzerland and Sweden with his friend

John Hutton Balfour John Hutton Balfour (15 September 1808 – 11 February 1884) was a Scottish botanist. Balfour became a Professor of Botany, first at the University of Glasgow in 1841, moving to the University of Edinburgh and also becoming the 7th Regius Kee ...

, many of his specimens being in the

Natural History Museum, London The Natural History Museum in London is a museum that exhibits a vast range of specimens from various segments of natural history. It is one of three major museums on Exhibition Road in South Kensington, the others being the Science Museum an ...

Life

He was born in

North Berwick North Berwick (; gd, Bearaig a Tuath) is a seaside town and former royal burgh in East Lothian, Scotland. It is situated on the south shore of the Firth of Forth, approximately east-northeast of Edinburgh. North Berwick became a fashionable ...

on 24 August 1851, the son of Adam Howden Crawford (1804–1882) of the Honourable East India Company, and his wife Margaret Buchan Chalmers (1821–1898). He attended

Edinburgh Academy The Edinburgh Academy is an independent day school in Edinburgh, Scotland, which was opened in 1824. The original building, on Henderson Row in the city's New Town, is now part of the Senior School. The Junior School is located on Arboretum Ro ...

1863–68 and then trained as a stockbroker. He retired in 1896 and began to focus fully on his botanical interests. In 1897 he became a Fellow of the Botanical Society of Edinburgh and demonstrated Botany at an academic level at the

Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh The Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh (RBGE) is a scientific centre for the study of plants, their diversity and conservation, as well as a popular tourist attraction. Founded in 1670 as a physic garden to grow medicinal plants, today it occupies ...

. In 1898 he was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society of Edinburgh. His proposers were

Ramsay Heatley Traquair Ramsay Heatley Traquair FRSE FRS (30 July 1840 – 22 November 1912) was a Scottish naturalist and palaeontologist who became a leading expert on fossil fish. Traquair trained as a medical doctor, but his thesis was on aspects of fish anatom ...

, Sir

Isaac Bayley Balfour Sir Isaac Bayley Balfour, KBE, FRS, FRSE (31 March 1853 – 30 November 1922) was a Scottish botanist. He was Regius Professor of Botany at the University of Glasgow from 1879 to 1885, Sherardian Professor of Botany at the University of Oxfor ...

James Geikie James Murdoch Geikie PRSE FRS LLD (23 August 1839 – 1 March 1915) was a Scottish geologist. He was professor of geology at Edinburgh University from 1882 to 1914. Life Education He was born in Edinburgh, the son of James Stuart Geikie a ...

and

John Chiene John Chiene, CB, LLD, MD, FRSE, FRCSEd (25 February 1843 – 29 May 1923) was a Scottish surgeon, who was Professor of Surgery at the University of Edinburgh during some of its most influential years. He was a founder of the Edinburgh ...

. In his final years he lived at 19 Royal Terrace, an impressive Georgian townhouse designed by

William Henry Playfair William Henry Playfair FRSE (15 July 1790 – 19 March 1857) was a prominent Scottish architect in the 19th century, who designed the Eastern, or Third, New Town and many of Edinburgh's neoclassical landmarks. Life Playfair was born on 15 ...

Calton Hill Calton Hill () is a hill in central Edinburgh, Scotland, situated beyond the east end of Princes Street and included in the city's UNESCO World Heritage Site. Views of, and from, the hill are often used in photographs and paintings of the cit ...

.Edinburgh and Leith Post Office Directory 1906-7 He died on 9 February 1908. He is buried with his parents and sister near the centre of the original north 19th century extension to Dean Cemetery in western

Edinburgh Edinburgh ( ; gd, Dùn Èideann ) is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 council areas. Historically part of the county of Midlothian (interchangeably Edinburghshire before 1921), it is located in Lothian on the southern shore of t ...

beneath a Celtic cross. The grave lies in the south-west section.

Publications

*''Anatomy of British Carices'' (published posthumously, 1910)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Crawford, Francis Chalmers 1851 births 1908 deaths 19th-century Scottish botanists People educated at Edinburgh Academy Fellows of the Royal Society of Edinburgh People associated with Edinburgh Burials at the Dean Cemetery People from North Berwick Scottish stockbrokers 19th-century Scottish businesspeople